Infant Mortality

Mr Iain Wright:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will fund impartial support and guidance for parents bereaved by sudden infant death. [94395]

Anne Milton:
In the sad circumstances of sudden infant death, bereaved parents should receive advice from health professionals such as their general practitioner who will direct them to the appropriate services, which local national health service organisations are responsible for commissioning.

The NHS Choices website also provides information and advice on reducing the risk of sudden infant death.. It contains information on coping with bereavement and sign posts parents to organisations that can offer support and advice. Details can be found at:

The Department and Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths jointly published the leaflet on “Reducing the risk of cot death”. This leaflet is currently out of stock, however, its contents will be reviewed and further copies will be printed as part of the Start4Life programme. The leaflet provides parents with practical tips for reducing death rather than bereavement support.

NHS Trusts: Private Patients

Stuart Andrew:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the private patient income was for each NHS trust in (a) cash terms and (b) as a percentage of that trust's total patient-related income in 2002-03; and what the total private patient income for each NHS trust and foundation trust was in each subsequent financial year in (i) cash terms and (ii) as a proportion of that trust's total patient-related income in that year. [93330]

Mr Simon Burns: This information is not held centrally.

NHS: Finance

Joan Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what funding local authorities in England will receive for public health services in 2012-13 and 2013-14; and how much of the funding will be ring-fenced; [94203]

(2) what the cost to the public purse was of providing public health services in England in 2010-11; how much

9 Feb 2012 : Column 424W

is estimated to be spent on them in 2011-12; and how much the Government intends to spend on them in

(a)

2012-13 and

(b)

2013-14. [94205]

Mr Simon Burns:
As a first step in estimating future grants to local authorities (LAs) for their proposed new public health responsibilities, the Department carried out analysis to provide a better understanding of primary care trust current spend on public health.

Based on this analysis, public health spending in 2010-11 was estimated to be £5 billion, and an estimated £5.1 billion for 2011-12. The Department estimates that during 2012-13 the national health service will spend £5.2 billion on public health services, of which £2.2 billion will in future fall to LAs for their new public health responsibilities. Actual allocations for 2013-14 for LAs for public health will be announced before the end of 2012 and for the first time these will be ring-fenced.

Work is continuing to determine public health allocations for the NHS Commissioning Board and Public Health England for 2013-14.

Organs: Donors

Tim Farron:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many successful organ transplant operations took place in (a) Cumbria, (b) the North West and (c) England in each of the last five years. [94448]

Anne Milton:
The number of organ transplants is provided in the following tables.

Table 1: Organ transplants performed in the United Kingdom on Cumbrian residents in the last five years, 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2011, by type of transplant and year

Year of transplant

Type of transplant

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Deceased donor kidney

14

9

17

8

8

Living donor kidney

4

4

8

8

6

Kidney/pancreas

1

0

0

1

0

Pancreas

0

0

1

0

0

Heart

1

2

2

2

0

Deceased donor single lung

0

1

1

0

2

Deceased donor double lung

0

0

0

1

2

Heart/lung

1

0

0

0

0

Deceased donor liver (including domino)

4

3

6

2

5

Deceased donor liver lobe

0

0

2

1

0

Living donor liver lobe

1

0

0

0

0

Total

26

19

37

23

23

Note:
There are no transplant centres in Cumbria, the table is based on Cumbrian residents who have received transplants at transplant centres elsewhere in the UK.
Source:
NHS Blood and Transplant

Table 2: Organ transplants performed in the UK on North West residents in the last five years, 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2011, by type of transplant and year

Year of transplant

Type of transplant

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Deceased donor kidney

113

137

146

169

171

Living donor kidney

71

79

85

104

103

Kidney/pancreas

17

12

11

6

16

Pancreas

4

8

8

3

2

Pancreas islets

0

0

0

1

2

Heart

14

14

13

15

17

Deceased donor single lung

8

8

6

3

7

Deceased donor double lung.

10

7

14

14

16

Heart/lung

1

0

0

0

1

Deceased donor liver (including domino)

51

38

56

60

52

Deceased donor liver lobe

4

8

8

14

2

Living donor liver lobe

1

3

0

2

5

9 Feb 2012 : Column 425W

9 Feb 2012 : Column 426W

Other multi organ

1

1

2

1

1

Total

295

315

349

392

395

Source:
NHS Blood and Transplant

Table 3: Organ transplants performed in the UK for English residents in the last five years, 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2011, by type of transplant and year

Year of transplant

Type of transplant

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Deceased donor kidney

996

1,144

1,195

1,270

1,277

Living donor kidney

688

796

857

866

851

Kidney/pancreas

153

134

133

131

138

Pancreas

42

48

44

35

30

Pancreas islets

1

2

8

11

19

Heart

105

105

115

97

109

Deceased donor single lung

24

24

29

21

32

Deceased donor double lung

76

85

95

106

123

Living donor lung

1

0

0

0

0

Heart/lung

7

4

3

3

4

Deceased donor liver (including domino)

406

411

425

440

465

Deceased donor liver lobe

73

98

75

91

73

Living donor liver lobe

8

12

8

6

13

Other multi organ

12

21

18

12

23

Total

2,592

2,884

3,005

3,089

3,157

Source:
NHS Blood and Transplant

Prostate Cancer: Drugs

David Wright:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on the use of abiraterone in the NHS. [94625]

Mr Simon Burns:
We have had no such discussions. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and its technology appraisal guidance is based on the best available evidence and is developed through consultation with stakeholders.

NICE is currently carrying out two technology appraisals of abiraterone and recently published initial draft guidance for consultation on the use of abiraterone for castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer previously treated with a docetaxel-containing regimen.

Social Services

Ann Clwyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he is taking to support newly qualified social workers to find employment relevant to their qualifications; [94145]

(2) what recent steps he has taken to promote social work as a vocational career for young people. [94146]

Paul Burstow:
While it is the responsibility of newly qualified social workers to find employment for themselves arid the responsibility of employers to recruit, the Department funds Skills for Care to provide a programme to enable newly qualified social workers to make the transition to the world of work in adult services.

The Department continues to support the work of the social work reform board and their programme to make social work a more attractive profession.

The Skills for Care framework for Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs) recognise that NQSWs need a range of support at different stages of their careers. They need:

Support to build on the expertise and knowledge they, have developed on. qualifying programmes and how to apply this to a practice setting as a qualified worker;

Good quality induction to the profession and to their organisation;

Access to the correct type and level of quality supervision; and

A structured process of continued professional development which supports them to develop their career beyond the first year in practice and to meet registration and post-registration training and learning requirements.

It also recognises that managers need support so that they can provide the most appropriate environment possible for NQSWs and, in particular, meet their supervision and ongoing development needs.

Social Services: Expenditure

Ms Buck:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the change has been in the proportion of gross current social services expenditure on (1) meals for people aged over 65 by each local authority in the period from 2001-02 to 2010-11; [94656]

(2) personal social care for those aged over 65 years by each local authority in the period from 2001-02 to 2010-11. [94657]

Paul Burstow:
The information requested is currently being collated and will be placed in the Library as soon as it is available.

Tobacco: Packaging

Ms Abbott:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations his Department has received from the tobacco industry on its consultation on plain packaging for tobacco products. [94508]

9 Feb 2012 : Column 427W

Anne Milton:
Since May 2011, Ministers at the Department have received a number of letters from tobacco manufacturers. While some have made reference to standardised or plain packaging of tobacco, none have specifically addressed the Government's planned consultation on tobacco packaging. Consistent with obligations as a party to the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and in accordance with the guidelines for the implementation of article 5.3 of the FCTC, Health Ministers have not had any meetings with tobacco manufacturers.

Further information on the planned consultation on tobacco packaging is available in the written statement made by the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley), on 15 December 2011, Official Report, column 125WS, and we would encourage anyone with an interest to respond to the consultation when it is published, including the tobacco industry.

Education

Academies

Tim Farron:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many academy schools there are in England; and which local education authority has the highest number of such schools. [94564]

Mr Gibb:
As at 1 February 2012, there were 1,580 academies open in England. The Kent local authority area has the highest number of open academies in England with 77 academies open.

Child Protection Review

Tony Lloyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to implement the recommendations of the Munro review of child protection. [94449]

Tim Loughton:
Good progress is being made across the full range of commitments in the Government response published in July.

We are reducing bureaucracy and making it easier for the front line to use their professional judgment through revisions to ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ and the ‘Framework of Assessment for Children in Need and their Families’. There will be a formal 12-week consultation and we will publish revised statutory guidance by July 2012. A multi-disciplinary professional advisory group is advising us on this work.

Government, Ofsted and the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) have come together with a range of other partners to develop and agree local child safeguarding performance information that puts professional expertise, rather than process, at the heart of local quality assurance. This was published on 23 January and is now available on the Department's website:

http://www.education.gov.uk/munroreview/downloads/LCSPIDec2011.pdf

We launched a public consultation asking for views on the proposed children's safeguarding national performance data:

Over the summer, Ofsted consulted on local authority child protection inspection arrangements that are more child centred. These new arrangements will begin in May 2012. All relevant inspectorates have also now agreed in principle to Professor Munro's proposed model of joint inspection to ensure that the contribution of all local services to safeguarding is examined. The inspectorates are working through what such a model will look like and when it will begin, and will give a progress update by end March 2012.

On 31 October we published a co-produced work programme, ‘Safeguarding Children in the reformed NHS’. Phase one is under way, led by the Chief Nursing Officer and a consultation on the draft Accountabilities Framework is in progress and nearing completion.

We have been working with partners to consider the best route to secure Professor Munro's vision of a transparent and co-ordinated offer of early help for children and families. We have engaged with partners in ADCS, health, police and education and have concluded that we do not need a new statutory duty to deliver early help and that there is sufficient existing legislation to realise Professor Munro's recommendation. We are continuing to work with partners to clarify existing legislation to emphasise the importance of early help. In the meantime we encourage local areas to continue to work to provide early help for the compelling arguments that Professor Munro articulated.

We are working with eight local authorities to trial more flexible approaches to assessment. The early evidence from these trials and emerging findings are encouraging and suggest that both removing the distinction between the initial and core assessments and replacing nationally prescribed timescales for assessment with timely, professional judgments can have the positive impact on practice envisaged by Professor Munro. Some of these trials have been running for only a few months and we need to explore further the impact of these changes, especially for children and young people. For this reason we have extended the trials to run until 31 March 2012 and will be consulting on flexibilities as part of the ‘Working Together’ consultation.

After consultation, and a market sounding exercise, we have taken the decision to decommission the National electronic Common Assessment Framework system (National eCAF). This is consistent with Professor Munro's view that we should remove constraints to local innovation and professional judgment that are created by prescribing approaches such as national IT systems. We are currently working with the current users of the system to ensure a smooth transition. As part of the decommissioning process we will consider the options to secure value out of the Government owned assets.

Our reforms of child protection are underpinned by work force reform, in particular reform of the social work profession which is being led by the Social Work Reform Board and the College of Social Work.

The Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) and the College of Social Work are supporting local authorities in designating a Principal Child and Family Social Worker in every local area. These roles will play a key part in redesigning child and family social work. The Department for Education and the Department of Health have been making preparations for the appointment of a Chief Social Worker to advise

9 Feb 2012 : Column 429W

Government on social work practice and the effectiveness of help being provided to children, families and adults. We are confident that the Chief Social Worker will be in post in 2012, ahead of the timeline envisaged in the Government's response.

We are clarifying and strengthening accountabilities in the system and taking action to improve learning from serious case reviews.

We have consulted on new guidance for DCSs and Lead Members so that we have real clarity about their roles and will be publishing the revised guidance by the end of April. My officials and I have also held discussions with groups of Local Safeguarding Children Boards Chairs to consider what might be done to strengthen their central role in challenging and monitoring the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements and we will be exploring options with stakeholders over coming weeks. This will build on our reforms around learning, early help, inspection and performance information which emphasise the importance of LSCBs.

Improving learning from serious incidents is critical to driving improvements in practice in child protection. Following Professor Munro's recommendation to use systems methodologies for serious case reviews (SCR), we are considering how the Social Care Institute for Excellence's (SCIE) ‘Learning Together’ model can be developed further for use in SCRs. Two LSCBs, Coventry and Lancaster, are piloting the SCIE model and we have now agreed that Devon will also carry out a pilot. While the pilots are in progress, my officials are also exploring, learning from sectors such as aviation and health, other ways of ensuring effective, sustained learning from serious incidents embedded in every day practice, with greater transparency and accountability. We will be consulting formally on new arrangements for SCRs later in the year.

We have been working with Ofsted to develop transitional arrangements in response to Professor Munro's recommendation to end Ofsted's evaluation of SCRs. In January 2012, Ofsted introduced more streamlined evaluations of SCRs with a greater focus on identifying and embedding learning in order to support improvements in professional practice.

Implementing the Munro recommendations requires a shift in mindset. The Government response was not intended to be seen as a one-off set of recommended

9 Feb 2012 : Column 430W

solutions to be imposed from the centre, but a joint venture between central Government, local agencies, local authorities and professionals. Our reforms are designed to shift the focus of the child protection system on to the things that matter most: the views and experiences of children and young people.

Departmental Data Protection

Mr David Davis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many cases of data loss or breaches of confidentiality occurred in his Department in 2011. [92973]

Tim Loughton[holding answer 1 February 2012]: During 2011 there were six data loss cases in the Department for Education. All six cases involved either a loss of personal data or a breach of confidentiality.

Procurement

Toby Perkins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department spent procuring products and services in 2010-11. [93873]

This figure includes spend with suppliers who are classed as a trading organisation or as a non-trade social care provider where the products and/or services were negotiable and influenceable. The figure also includes spend with suppliers such as local government, charities or housing associations and other non-trade organisations.

Departmental Training

Luciana Berger:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many away days his Department has held since May 2010; what the location was of each such away day; how many staff attended; and what the cost was of each such event. [93846]

Tim Loughton:
Information for Ministers and the Department's Board away days is set out as follows:

Meeting

Date

Period of event

Location

Number of staff

Cost (food, refreshments) (£)

Meeting 1

17 July 2010

1 day

Sanctuary Buildings, London

21

112.82

Meeting 2

27 February 2011

1 day

Sanctuary Buildings, London

26

(1)192.88

Meeting 3

9 September 2011

1/2 day

Sanctuary Buildings, London

20

200.00

Meeting 4

10 January 2012

1 day

Sanctuary Buildings, London

24

228.70

(1) Meetings 1 and 2 were held at the weekend. To avoid substantial costs, heating was isolated to the part of the building where the meetings were taking place. The electrical monitoring capability within the building was not available for meeting 1 and so specific usage could not be monitored. Heating costs for meeting 2 was £548.39.

Information for the rest of the Department is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Given the financial constraints on administrative costs in the Department, staff are clear that any events to bring staff together from across our sites, should be held in the most appropriate departmental buildings.

Where this is not possible, any meetings organised outside the Department's buildings, where accommodation costs and other charges are involved, are done so with careful consideration to cost and in accordance with the principles of ‘Managing Public Money' and the Treasury handbook on ‘Regularity and Propriety':

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/psr_governance_valuefor money.htm

9 Feb 2012 : Column 431W

Education: Epilepsy

Valerie Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will undertake a review of the educational support given to children with epilepsy. [91659]

Mr Gibb:
We have no plans to undertake a review of the educational support given to children with epilepsy. The Departments of Education and Health published guidance on managing medicines in 2005. It is designed to help schools and early years settings and their employers to put in place effective management systems to support individual children with medical needs. It includes practical guidance on common conditions such as epilepsy. The guidance is currently being updated.

Free Schools

Mr Leigh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress he has made in allowing (a) the Thérèse Lord School in Lincolnshire and (b) other proposed special free schools where parental demand exists but there is reluctance from the local authority to be established. [93470]

Mr Gibb:
The Department is currently working with three projects aiming to open special free schools: Rosewood School, Southampton; City of Peterborough Academy special school, Peterborough; and Lighthouse School, Leeds. In these projects we are working constructively with the relevant local authorities. Applications for the 2013 round for free schools can be submitted between 13 and 24 February 2012 and further details are available on the Department's website at:

www.education.gov.uk/freeschools

While we are keen to understand the extent to which local authorities will place children in proposed special free schools, we are equally keen to understand demand for places from parents themselves.

GCSE

Damian Hinds:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the (a) unique reference number and (b) establishment number was of each school in England and Wales that entered candidates for GCSEs in school year 2009-10; what the most recent Ofsted overall rating was of each such school; and how many GCSE results were recorded by each such school through (A) Edexcel, (B) WJEC, (C) OCR and (D) AQA in school year 2009-10. [92235]

Mr Gibb:
The Department for Education is responsible for education in England. The information requested based on those English schools published in the 2010 Key Stage 4 School Performance Tables has been placed in the House Libraries. Information on Ofsted overall ratings is available on their website here:

Damian Hinds:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 30 January 2012, Official Report, columns 432-34W, on GCSE: assessments, what the main changes were in data collection and reporting methodology referred to in footnote 2 to Table 1; to what extent these changes have affected the answer; and whether the data in Table 1 refer to the total number of subject entries or the number of unique pupils or individual papers and modules. [94182]

Mr Gibb:
The main changes in data collection since 2004-05 on eligibility for extra time in GCSEs and GCEs are:

In 2004 the National Assessment Agency introduced an online tool for schools and other exam centres to record access arrangements such as extra time that could be decided locally.

In 2008 the Qualifications and Curriculum Agency introduced a new facility for exam centres to process all access arrangements online.

On both occasions, the new tools were complemented by extensive training initiatives by these two bodies to ensure that staff in schools and colleges recorded applications correctly.

The changes had been made to ensure that all centres collected adequate evidence to confirm eligibility for these access arrangements, which was subject to inspection.

The reporting of applications for extra time has therefore steadily grown more reliable over the reporting period. The recorded figures therefore over-state the true increase in eligibility for this access arrangement and it is not possible to estimate the extent to which the change is real.

The data in Table 1 of that question reflect the total number of candidates awarded extra time in a given academic year but it is not subject specific. Any individual candidate may have had access to additional access arrangements such as a reader, a scribe and/or a word processor; extra time of up to 25% may not have been the sole arrangement for the candidate. In addition, these figures show extra time that was allocated; this does not mean that it was necessarily used by the candidates.

Languages: GCSE

Rehman Chishti:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pupils took each foreign language at GCSE level in Gillingham and Rainham constituency in the last year; and what proportion of them achieved grades between A* and C. [94261]

Mr Gibb:
The information requested on pupils taking each foreign language at GCSE level in Gillingham and Rainham constituency can be found in the following table:

Number of pupils(1,2,3) entering each foreign language GCSE(4) and percentage achieving A*-C grades(5,6) in Gillingham and Rainham constituency(7), south-east region(8) and England(9), 2009/10

Gillingham and Rainham

South East

England

Number of eligible pupils(3)

1,081

90,934

575,970

Number of pupils taking GCSE French

172

23,206

134,664

9 Feb 2012 : Column 433W

9 Feb 2012 : Column 434W

Of which:

Percentage achieving A*-C grades

64.0

71.5

67.7

Number of pupils taking GCSE German

97

10,438

58,364

Of which:

Percentage achieving A*-C grades

83.5

75.7

72.7

Number of pupils taking GCSE Spanish

121

9,030

46,483

Of which:

Percentage achieving A*-C grades

86.0

72.7

69.9

Number of pupils taking GCSE Italian

(10)—

609

2,834

Of which:

Percentage achieving A *-C grades

(10)—

81.6

85.6

Number of pupils taking GCSE Modern Greek

(10)—

18

332

Of which:

Percentage achieving A*-C grades

(10)—

100.0

913

Number of pupils taking GCSE Chinese

(10)—

222

1,300

Of which:

Percentage achieving A*-C grades

(10)—

94.1

93.5

Number of pupils entering GCSE Panjabi

(10)—

67

790

Of which:

Percentage achieving A*-C grades

(10)—

89.6

81.1

Number of pupils entering GCSE Polish

(10)—

305

2,411

Of which:

Percentage achieving A*-C grades

(10)—

96.1

95.6

Number of pupils entering GCSE Russian

(10)—

54

845

Of which:

Percentage achieving A*-C grades

(10)—

100.0

92.5

Number of pupils entering GCSE Turkish

4

50

1,211

Of which:

Percentage achieving A*-C grades

100.0

96.0

92.7

(1) Figures do not include pupils recently arrived from overseas.
(2) Figures include all maintained schools (including CTCs and academies).
(3) Pupils at the end of key stage 4 in the 2009/10 academic year.
(4) Only those language GCSEs where at least one pupil in Gillingham and Rainham took the subject are shown in the table. Therefore Dutch, Danish, Portuguese. Arabic, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Urdu and Persian are not included in the table as no pupils were entered for these language GCSEs.
(5) Percentage achieving A*- C based on the number of pupils entering each subject.
(6) Including attempts and achievements by these pupils in previous academic years.
(7) Parliamentary constituency figures are based on the postcode of the school.
(8) Regional figures are based on the region of the local authority maintaining the school.
(9) England figures are the sum of all local authority figures.
(10) Figures not shown in order to protect confidentiality.
Source:
National Pupil Database

Maternity Services: Data Protection

Mrs Hodgson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the proportion of primary care trusts who do not share live-birth data with local authority children's services for use by children's centres and associated early years outreach programmes. [93301]

Sarah Teather:
The Department has made no assessment of the proportion of primary care trusts who do not share live-birth data with local authority children's services. Local authorities have different arrangements for sharing birth data depending on local relationships with professionals such as health visitors and outreach support in children's centres.

The Department of Health and the Department for Education recognise that effective sharing of live birth data and related information is essential to maintain a national record on childhood immunisation and is critical to safeguarding and integrated working. The Department of Health is doing further work on the information and

9 Feb 2012 : Column 435W

intelligence functions that will support public health outcomes for children in preparation for the establishment of Public Health England and the transition of Directors of public health to local authorities. Such arrangements could include the sharing of information.

Mossbourne Academy

Mr Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will require Mossbourne Academy to publish information about its school exclusion rate; and if he will make a statement. [94592]

Mr Gibb:
The Department does not require individual schools to publish data on exclusions. However, if they wish to do so, schools are free to publish this information themselves. The Department publishes annual statistics on exclusions available at:

http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001016/index.shtml

and will continue to provide these statistics by local authority.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Mark Lancaster:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he plans to introduce a social and emotional well-being service in schools in England. [94006]

Mr Gibb:
We have no plans to do so.

Pupil Referral Units

Ben Gummer:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to publish the Government's strategy on pupil referral units and behavioural support services. [94548]

Mr Gibb:
In September, the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), asked his behaviour adviser, Charlie Taylor, to conduct a review of alternative provision. Mr Taylor's report on that review will form the basis of the Government's continuing strategy on pupil referral units and alternative provision. We expect the report to be published before the end of March.

Ben Gummer:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he has any plans to allow pupil referral units to convert to academy status. [94549]

Mr Gibb:
The Education Act 2011 included provision to enable pupil referral units (PRUs) to convert to academy status by creating a new category of academy—the alternative provision academy. We are currently consulting on regulations that will allow the management committees of PRUs to apply for academy orders, which is the legal process to enable a PRU to become an alternative provision academy. We will publish information about the process for this shortly, making sure that all the necessary information is available for PRUs to make an informed decision about whether to apply to convert.

9 Feb 2012 : Column 436W

Reading: Primary Education

Mr Buckland:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of his proposals for phonics screening at age six on children's development. [93863]

Mr Gibb:
The phonics screening check, which will be implemented nationally in June 2012, is designed to provide reassurance that children have reached the expected standard in phonic decoding and to identify pupils who need extra help.

The check was piloted with 300 schools in 2011, and an independent evaluation was carried out by Sheffield Hallam university. The evaluation looked at the ease of administration of the check, and its suitability for a wide range of pupils. The evaluation found that the check enabled 43% of teachers to identify pupils with reading difficulties of which they were not previously aware, enabling them to target additional support to help pupils to progress. All aspects of the screening check were seen as suitable by at least 74% of teachers in the pilot.

We will evaluate the impact of the screening check when it is rolled out nationally, including its effect on the teaching of literacy and its impact on pupils' future attainment.

Schools: Bible

Mr Watson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how many copies of the King James Bible he plans to distribute to schools; and what estimate he has made of the cost of doing so; [91969]

(2) if he will place in the Library a copy of the message he plans to include in the front of each copy of the King James Bible that will be distributed to schools as part of the King James Bible project; [91970]

(3) if he will publish a list of all paper and electronic correspondence between (a) Ministers, (b) officials and (c) special advisers in his Department and (i) the Cabinet Office and (ii) 10 Downing Street in which the King James Bible project was discussed in the last 12 months; [91971]

(4) whether he plans to publish guidance to schools on the use of copies of the King James Bible that he plans to distribute to them; and whether his Department will oblige children to read scripture as part of that project. [91972]

Mr Gibb:
The story of the King James Bible, and its impact on the English speaking world, can help pupils—of all faiths and none—better appreciate our language and literature, democracy and culture.

To mark the 400th anniversary year of the publication of the King James Bible, the Department for Education is sending a facsimile copy to each state primary and secondary school in England. This will enable all pupils to understand its place in our nation’s identity and history.

We are working to achieve the best possible value for money and will be fully transparent about the costs when they are finalised.

9 Feb 2012 : Column 437W

We hope this exercise will inspire teachers to teach about the impact of the King James Bible, although there is no requirement on them to do so. We are not prescribing that every child must read the King James Bible, nor are we prescribing its role in the curriculum.

Printing will commence in the next few months. There will be no foreword from the Secretary of State for Education. We will place a copy of this edition in the library when it is ready for distribution to schools. Information relating to internal discussion and advice is not normally disclosed.

Schools: ICT

Michael Ellis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the recommendations of the Royal Society's report entitled, “Shut down or restart?: The way forward for computing in UK schools”, published in January 2012. [94280]

Mr Gibb:
We welcome the publication of the Royal Society study on the state of computing in schools, which makes a valuable and timely contribution to this

9 Feb 2012 : Column 438W

important area. The report's conclusion that the teaching of ‘Information and Communication Technology’ (ICT) in schools needs reform is consistent with other evidence on the shortcomings of ICT and related qualifications in schools. That is why we are now consulting on withdrawing the existing ICT Programmes of Study and Attainment Targets from September 2012. This will free schools to develop more innovative ICT curricula with a greater focus on computer science, drawing on support from industry and other expert groups.

ICT will however remain a compulsory subject at all key stages, pending the outcome of the current review of the national curriculum in England.

Science: GCSE

Gareth Johnson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children in Dartford constituency achieved A* to C grades in GCSE (a) biology, (b) chemistry, (c) physics and (d) combined sciences in each of the last three years. [94293]

Mr Gibb:
The information requested can be found in the following table.

Numbers and percentages of pupils(1,2) at the end of Key Stage 4 achieving A*-C grades in biological science, chemistry, physics and combined sciences(3) GCSEs(4,5) in Dartford constituency(6), South East region and England(8), Years: 2007-08 to 2009-10, Coverage: England

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

Biological science

Dartford

Number

47

160

303

Percentage

3.4

12.1

22.1

South East

Number

10,088

12,469

16,820

Percentage

10.9

13.9

18.5

England

Number

52,868

65,792

91,504

Percentage

8.9

11.4

15.9

Chemistry

Dartford

Number

47

147

300

Percentage

3.4

11.1

21.9

South East

Number

9,655

12,027

16,463

Percentage

10.4

13.4

18.1

England

Number

50,049

63,261

89,436

Percentage

8.4

11.0

15.5

Physics

Dartford

Number

49

145

303

Percentage

3.6

11.0

22.7

South East

Number

9,678

11,932

16,491

Percentage

10.4

13.3

18.1

England

Number

49,521

62,680

89,416

Percentage

8.3

10.9

15.5

Combined sciences(3)

Dartford

Number

753

604

476

Percentage

54.6

45.7

34.7

9 Feb 2012 : Column 439W

9 Feb 2012 : Column 440W

South East

Number

43,292

40,987

37,263

Percentage

46.7

45.8

41.0

England

Number

272,948

259,951

230,888

Percentage

45.8

45.7

40.7

(1 )Figures do not include pupils recently arrived from overseas. (2) Figures include all maintained schools (including CTCs and academies). (3) Pupils who achieved A*-C at GCSE in either single science or core science. (4 )Full GCSEs only have been included (full GCSEs, double awards, accredited international certificates and their predecessor iGCSEs). Figures from 2008-09 exclude iGCSEs. 2010 figures include accredited iGCSEs. (5) Including attempts and achievements by these pupils in previous academic years. (6) Parliamentary constituency figures are based on the postcode of the school. (7) Regional figures are based on the region of the local authority maintaining the school. (8) England figures are the sum of all local authority figures. Source: National Pupil Database

Teachers: Crimes of Violence

David Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many teachers in each region of England have reported physical assaults on them in the last year. [94130]

Mr Gibb:
Information is not available in the form requested.

The Department collects information on the reason pupils are excluded from school. This includes data on exclusions classified as relating to physical assault, verbal abuse or threatening behaviour against an adult, but not specifically against teachers or school staff.

Information on the number of permanent and fixed period exclusions classified as relating to ‘physical assault against an adult’ for 2009/10 is shown in the following table.

Any violence against school staff is totally unacceptable. It is for head teachers to consider whether a particular case warrants a pupil being given a fixed-period exclusion, a permanent exclusion or other disciplinary penalty, taking account of the severity and circumstances of the assault.

Maintained primary, state-funded secondary and special schools(1,2): Number of permanent and fixed period exclusions for physical assault against an adult(3), 2009/10, by region in England

Number of permanent exclusions

Number of fixed period exclusions

North East

30

670

North West

80

2.010

Yorkshire and the Humber

60

1,960

East Midlands

60

1,490

West Midlands

110

1,770

East of England

40

1,540

London

90

2,460

Inner London

40

1,130

Outer London

60

1,330

South East

70

2,890

South West

40

1,590

England

580

16,370

(1) Includes middle schools as deemed, city technology colleges and academies (including all-through academies).
(2) Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools. Excludes general hospital schools.
(3) Figures relating to permanent exclusions are estimates based on incomplete pupil-level data.
(4) Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, therefore totals may not appear to equal the sum of constituent parts.
Source:
School Census

The latest available data on exclusions were published in the Statistical First Release ‘Permanent and Fixed Period Exclusions from Schools in England 2009/10’ on 28 July 2011 at:

http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001016/index.shtml

Teachers: Retirement

Tim Farron:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of teachers retired in each county in England in each of the last five years. [94240]

Mr Gibb[holding answer 7 February 2012]:The information requested is not available for each county. Statistics for each local authority have been placed in the House Libraries.

Young People: Employment

Alex Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of 16 to 18-year-olds without a level 2 qualification who are in full-time work with no training element. [94430]

9 Feb 2012 : Column 441W

Tim Loughton:
In the third quarter of 2011 there were an estimated 24,000 16 to 18-year-olds in England without a level 2 qualification who worked full-time and were not in receipt of any education or training.

The estimate is based on a sample of around 50 from the Labour Force Survey which has been grossed to figure for England. The level of qualification, working patterns and training are all self-reported by survey respondents. The age is as at the start of the academic year.

Prime Minister

Tax Avoidance

Mr Nicholas Brown:
To ask the Prime Minister (1) what assessment he has made of the use of tax avoidance schemes in the civil service; [94194]

(2) what assessment he has made of the extent of the use of tax avoidance schemes by the senior management of public bodies. [94199]

Danny Alexander:
I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Treasury.

The Government are committed to tackling tax avoidance, wherever it occurs. This applies equally to the civil service and public sector bodies. That is why I have asked officials to review the appropriateness of allowing senior public sector appointees being paid in a way that could be perceived as being to minimise tax payments. The Treasury Officer of Accounts has also written to departmental accounting officers to remind them that public sector organisations should not use artificial tax avoidance devices.

Cabinet Office

Business: Portsmouth

Mr Mike Hancock:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many new jobs have been created by small businesses in Portsmouth South constituency in each of the last five years. [94778]

Mr Hurd:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated February 2012:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many new job opportunities have been created by small businesses in Portsmouth South constituency in each of the last five years. (94778)

The requested data are not available.

Communities First Fund

Robert Flello:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what arrangements have been put in place to ensure that the Community First programme is accountable to the local community for its disbursement of funds. [94424]

9 Feb 2012 : Column 442W

Mr Hurd:
Grant award decisions are made by a panel of local people in the eligible ward. This ensures that responsibility for decisions is taken as close as possible to the community that the grants seek to serve. More information is available from the website of the grant administrator (the Community Development Foundation, CDF):

http://www.cdf.org.uk/web/guest/neighbourhood-matched-fund

The panel must maintain a web site as a condition of the funding. The website is to be used to promote the programme and provide information to the community on what projects and groups have been funded. The website also provides an opportunity for more local people to get involved and also to make applications for project funding. The panel works with a local organisation as a panel partner, helping to ensure transparency and probity, and may have a local councillor as a panel member. CDF collect monitoring information on expenditure by the grant recipients.

Robert Flello:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what input local councillors will have to the distribution of funds by the Community First programme. [94425]

Mr Hurd:
Local councillors are welcome as Community First panel members, helping with the process of making grant decisions. They can play a vital role in encouraging local people and groups to get involved and to apply for funding. They cannot however be in the majority on the panel as the aim of the programme is for the community to take the lead on setting priorities and making funding decisions directly.

Robert Flello:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how the Community First programme will ensure that all local people with an interest in being members of a local panel have an opportunity to join; and if he will ensure that priority is not given only to those who apply first. [94426]

Mr Hurd:
In aiming to form panels with strong local involvement, the Community First programme has taken a number of steps to raise awareness of the chance to be a panel member. The Community Development Foundation (CDF) launched the Community First programme on 4 October 2011, engaging with a large number of national, regional and local voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations. I wrote to all top-tier local authorities at the same time, asking for their support in helping the eligible wards take advantage of the opportunity. Local and national press has also raised awareness.

Once in place, the Community First panel uses a website to advertise their presence, to aid transparency and to encourage involvement from the community. CDF have provided guidance to each panel to encourage them to develop and change the panel membership during the course of the programme. The subsequent development of the Community First plan is a good opportunity for more and new people to get involved in decision making in their neighbourhood.

9 Feb 2012 : Column 443W

Community Development Fund

Rachel Reeves:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of Community Development Foundation grants have been made in each region in the last year. [94526]

Mr Hurd:
The Community First small grants programme does not allocate the funding on a regional basis, but to council wards in top-tier local authority areas. For example, Leeds has 15 eligible wards and a total allocation over the term of the programme of up to £1,593,770. The amounts per ward range from £33,910 to £237,370. Overall, Leeds has more than 5% of the total programme allocation for small grants.

Information on the allocations to each top-tier local authority area is available from the download section of the following web page:

http://www.cdf.org.uk/web/guest/neighbourhood-matched-fund

Rachel Reeves:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much he allocated to spend on the Community Development Foundation in each year of the current spending review; and what proportion of such spending was allocated for (a) administration and (b) grants. [94531]

Mr Hurd:
The Community Development Foundation (CDF) have been awarded a contract to deliver the Community First programme, comprising fees for managing the £30 million Neighbourhood Match Fund (NMF; the small grants part of the programme) and the £50 million Endowment Match Challenge (EMC). The EMC is subcontracted by CDF to the Community Foundation Network (CFN).

For 2011-12, the fees for the NMF are £107,000; the grants allocation in this financial year is £4.9 million. For 2012-13, the fees for the NMF are £112,000; the grants allocation is £7.4 million. For 2013-14, the fees for the NMF are £114,000; the grants allocation is £7.4 million. For 2014-15, the fees for the NMF are £117,000; the grants allocation is £9.9 million. Over the contract period, CDF will be paid £450,000 in fees for administering the NMF, representing 1.5% of the total small grants budget of £30 million.

Ministerial Travel Costs

Maria Eagle:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 16 January 2012, Official Report, column 31WS, on cost of ministerial cars, whether his Department has any other arrangements for ministerial travel; and how much his Department has spent on (a) private hire vehicles and (b) taxis for each Minister since May 2010. [92823]

Mr Maude:
The Cabinet Office does not have any other arrangements in place for ministerial travel. The Department has an account with Addison Lee. Spend by Ministers on Addison Lee cars and taxis for the period May 2010 to March 2011 is £4,234. Spend from April 2011 to December 2011 is £2,897.

9 Feb 2012 : Column 444W

Employment: Young People

Mr Laws:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many 18 to 24-year-olds in England were (a) employed, (b) self-employed, (c) serving in HM Forces and (d) Government-supported trainees in September (i) 2009, (ii) 2010 and (iii) 2011. [93759]

Mr Hurd:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Stephen Penneck:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many 18 to 24 year olds in England were (a) employed, (b) self-employed, (c) serving in HM Forces and (d) Government-supported trainees in September (i) 2009, (ii) 2010 and (iii) 2011 (93759)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles employment statistics from the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. The requested estimates for 18 to 24 year olds are not available for the requested periods.

As an alternative, table 1 shows the number of people aged 18 to 24 in England who were employed, which includes employees and self-employed, or on government employment and training programmes during the 12 month periods ending in December for 2009 and 2010 and for the 12 month period ending June 2011, being the latest period available. Estimates of those serving in HM Forces are not available from this source. Defence Analytical Services and Advice (DASA) produce the number of HM forces by age and by region but not by age and region.

As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. A guide to the quality of the estimates is given in the table.

National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:

http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

Table 1: Number of people aged 18 to 24 in England who were employed, employees, self-employed or on government employment and training programmes

Thousand

Employed(1)

Employees

Self-employed

Government employment and training programmes

12 months ending

December 2009

2,815

2,686

129

30

December 2010

2,752

2,624

128

33

June 2011(2)

*2,745

*2,612

**133

***34

(1) Employed includes employees and self-employed. (2) Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates. See Guide to Quality below. Guide to Quality:The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220. Key:* 0 ≤ CV<5%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered precise ** 5 ≤ CV <10%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered reasonably precise *** 10 ≤ CV <20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered acceptable **** CV ≥ 20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes CV = Coefficient of Variation Source:Annual Population Survey.

Job Creation: Westmorland

Tim Farron:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many new job opportunities have been created by small businesses in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency in each of the last five years. [94305]

9 Feb 2012 : Column 445W

Mr Hurd[holding answer 8 February 2012]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated February 2012:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many job opportunities have been created by small businesses in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency on each of the last 5 years. (94305)

The requested data are not available.

Legal Proceedings

Mr Jenkin:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether it is his policy to apply for costs in cases where organisations funded by his Department bring legal proceedings against it. [93353]

Mr Maude:
There is no set policy to apply for costs in all cases. The Cabinet Office will generally apply for costs of litigation where it is entitled to do so. Each case is considered separately, on legal advice.

The Cabinet Office will bear in mind any legal action taken when providing funds to these organisations in the future.

Public Sector: Procurement

Chris White:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many (a) social enterprises, (b) charities and (c) small businesses have successfully bid for public sector service contracts in each of the last five years. [88393]

Mr Maude:
Data were not held previously on the number of small businesses awarded Government contracts. This Government have started tracking this for the first time and, during 2011, of 5,196 contracts published on Contracts Finder 1,842 were flagged as awarded to small businesses (35%). However this does not capture data for lower value contracts or for all parts of the wider public sector.

Senior Civil Servants: Tax Avoidance

Mr Nicholas Brown:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the effect on morale in the civil service of the use of tax avoidance schemes by senior civil servants. [94196]

Mr Maude:
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander), has commissioned an immediate review of the tax arrangements of senior public appointments. No assessment has been made on the impact on morale in the civil service of any such arrangements.

Justice

Civil Disorder

Mr Spellar:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department took to ensure expeditious hearing of cases following the public disorder in August 2011. [94532]

9 Feb 2012 : Column 446W

Mr Djanogly:
The Ministry of Justice expanded its existing prison incident response command structures to work with Criminal Justice System (CJS) partners to support the police during and after the disturbances, and to ensure that adequate resources were available across the CJS to deal with cases expeditiously. This included opening prison receptions and liaison with the judiciary to ensure courts were able to open overnight during, and in the immediate aftermath of the disturbances.

Information on the CJS response and the contingency measures deployed across the system is available in Volume II of the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee Sixteenth Report of Session 2010-12—Policing Large Scale Disorder: Lessons from the disturbances of August 2011: Written evidence submitted by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) (Ev 165)

Civil Proceedings: Legal Costs

Mr Slaughter:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will place in the Library a copy of any advice his Department received from the Senior Judiciary including the Master of the Rolls on (a) qualified one-way cost shifting and (b) a 10% uplift in general damages as part of his proposed reform of civil litigation funding and costs. [94402]

Mr Djanogly:
I have placed Lord Justice Jackson's responses to our consultations, Proposals for the Reform of Civil Litigation Funding and Costs in England and Wales and Costs Protections for Litigants in Environmental Judicial Review Cases, in the House Library.

There have been discussions with the Senior Judiciary about how the 10% uplift in damages for non-pecuniary loss such as pain, suffering and loss of amenity is to be implemented. As I explained on 13 September 2011 to the Public Bill Committee on the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, the Senior Judiciary have agreed to take this forward.

The Civil Justice Council, chaired by the Master of the Rolls, has been assisting the Ministry of Justice with the development of qualified one way costs shifting.

We have not received further advice on these issues from the Senior Judiciary.

Dangerous Driving: Convictions

Ian Austin:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what assessment he has made of the number of drivers convicted of (a) causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving, (b) causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs, (c) causing death by dangerous driving and (d) manslaughter within (i) less than 12 months and (ii) between 12 and 24 months of passing their driving test in each of the last five years; [94224]

(2) how many drivers were convicted of (a) causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving, (b) causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs, (c) causing death by dangerous driving and (d) manslaughter in the case of a road traffic accident in which a cyclist was killed in each of the last five years. [94123]

9 Feb 2012 : Column 447W

Mr Blunt:
The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not the specific circumstances of each case. It is not possible to identify from this centrally held information the length of time since a driving test has been passed or whether a manslaughter offence is related to a road traffic accident.

The number of defendants convicted for (a) causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving, (b) causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs, (c) causing death by dangerous driving 2006 to 2010 (latest available) can be viewed in the table.

Annual court proceedings data for 2011 are planned for publication in May 2012.

Defendants found guilty at all courts for selected motoring offences, England and Wales: 2006-10(1, 2)

Guilty

Offences

2006

2007

2008(3)

2009

2010

Causing Death by careless or inconsiderate driving(4)

n/a

n/a

4

81

238

Causing Death by Careless Driving when under the influence of Drink or Drugs

65

67

46

35

41

Causing Death by Dangerous Driving

223

233

221

225

154

n/a = Not applicable
(1 )The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces.
As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
(3) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008.
(4) In August 2008 section 2B of the Road Traffic Act 1988 was added by the Road Safety Act 2006.
Source:
Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.

Departmental Hospitality

Fabian Hamilton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much (a) his Department and (b) its public bodies have spent on (i) wine, (ii) other alcoholic refreshments and (iii) bottled water since May 2010. [92646]

Mr Kenneth Clarke:
The Department's policy on the provision of alcohol prohibits the supply of any alcohol paid from tax-payers' money on in-house hospitality. For external hospitality, given the significant savings being delivered by the Department and the stringent financial controls in place, such discretionary expenditure is only incurred on the rare occasions in which director-level approval is granted.

9 Feb 2012 : Column 448W

As part of the Department's ‘Act on CO2' emissions campaign, bottled water is no longer made available for meetings. However, jugs of tap water are made available upon request.

The Department's accounting systems do not identify separate expenditure on wine, other alcoholic refreshments or bottled water and because such events are managed locally by business areas, for the period from May 2010 to date, the Ministry has no central records on such expenditure. To obtain information on departmental expenditure on these specific items would involve disproportionate cost.

Drugs: Convictions

Gareth Johnson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were charged with possession of cannabis in (a) Dartford constituency, (b) Kent and (c) England in each of the last five years. [94297]

Mr Blunt:
The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts for cannabis possession in England and the Kent police force area, from 2006 to 2010 (latest available) can be viewed in the table.

Charging data are not collated centrally by the Ministry of Justice therefore proceedings data have been provided in lieu.

Court proceedings data are not available centrally at parliamentary constituency level.

Annual court proceedings data for 2011 are planned for publication in May 2012.

Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts for cannabis possession, England and Kent police force area, 2006 to 2010(1, 2)

Area

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

England

Proceeded against

12,616

14,103

17,846

21,374

25,100

of which:

Kent police force area(3)

Proceeded against

1

49

403

412

440

(1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
(3) We are aware of under-reporting issues in the Kent police force area in 2006 and 2007.
Source:
Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.

Legal Aid scheme

Mr Slaughter:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effect on demand for legal aid in respect of private family law of implementation of an assumption of shared parenting. [94398]

9 Feb 2012 : Column 449W

Mr Djanogly:
As part of existing work to reform legal aid, the Government have already announced that, from April 2013, the majority of private family cases will be out of the scope for legal aid.

Court is often not the best way to resolve disputes about the arrangements for children following parental separation or divorce. Mediation can be quicker, cheaper and less acrimonious than court proceedings and legal aid will therefore remain available for mediation in private law family cases to those who are eligible. We estimate that legal aid spend on family mediation will increase by £10 million a year taking the total annual spend to £25 million.

Legal aid will also remain available for private family law cases where there is evidence of domestic violence and cases where a child is at risk of abuse. We will also continue to provide civil legal aid for the victims of domestic violence to apply for protective injunctions and will continue to waive the financial eligibility limits in these cases.

The Government recently indicated in its response to the Family Justice Review its intention to make a legislative statement emphasising the importance of children having an ongoing relationship with both their parents after family separation, where that is safe, and in the child's best interests. We have established a working group of Ministers to develop proposals for legislative change, which will be brought forward for wide debate and consultation later this year. The impacts on legal aid will be considered as part of an overall impact assessment, informed by consultation responses.

This is a complex and difficult area that affects many parents and children and we are determined to make the right decision. We are mindful of the experience in Australia and the need to ensure that any welfare or safety issues are appropriately considered and that any change to legislation does not lead to an increase in litigation.

Legal Aid Scheme: Abu Qatada

Priti Patel:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost to the public purse was of legal aid for cases involving Abu Qatada in each year since 2001. [94607]

Mr Djanogly:
The case against Abu Qatada is ongoing. It would be wrong of me to either comment on or to disclose specific details concerning the costs of any case while it is still ongoing.

Legal Aid Scheme: Harrow

Mr Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 26 January 2012, Official Report, column 362W, on solicitors: Harrow, which firms of solicitors in the London borough of Harrow have active legal aid contracts for financial years (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14; and if he will make a statement. [94610]

Mr Djanogly:
Following is a list of the 25 solicitor firms or not for profit providers with offices that will have legal aid contracts in Harrow in the financial years 2011-12 and 2012-13:

9 Feb 2012 : Column 450W

Provider office name

Arthur & Co.

Blaser Mills

Brooklyn Solicitors

Camerons Jones

Caplans

David Phillips & Partners

Duncan Lewis Solicitors

Goodwins

Hanson Young & Co. Solicitors

Harrow Law Centre

Harrow Law Partnership

Harrow Solicitors and Advocates

Johal & Co.

Law Partnership Solicitors

LMK Law

M2M Community Solicitors LLP

Mills Chody

Nicholls Christie & Crocker

Redferns

Samy & Co.

Siddiqui & Co.

Thakker & Co.

Thakrar & Co.

Walter Wilson Richmond

Wick & Co.

Current legal aid contracts are due to expire in 2013 so the position on contract awards in 2013-14 is not yet known.

National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders: Finance

Priti Patel:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much funding (a) his Department and (b) its non-departmental public bodies have provided to Nacro in each of the last five years. [94626]

Mr Blunt:
The following table provides details of payments made to Nacro and its related organisation in each of the last five financial years recorded in our central financial system. Payments are made to Nacro from the National Offender Management Service, and the non-departmental public bodies expenditure relates to payments made by the Youth Justice Board.